15 Words You Had No Idea Used To Be Brand Names!
Peter Pizagalli
Published
05/22/2014
So popular we use them all the time!
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1.
Let's start with "Bikini."Brands that become common nouns or verbs are victims of "genericide," a term coined by marketers to represent trademarks and brands that become used repeatedly in lowercase -
2.
Aspirin Trademark previously owned by: Bayer-What happened: According to Inventors.About.com: "After Germany lost World War I, Bayer was forced to give it up as part of the Treaty of Versailles in 1919." -
3.
Bikini Trademark Invented by Louis Reard, an engineer 1951 bikinis were banned from the Miss World Contest. In 1957, however, Brigitte Bardot's bikini in And God Created Woman created a market for the swimwear in the US, and in 1960, Brian Hyland's pop song "Itsy Bitsy Teenie Weenie Yellow Polka Dot Bikini" inspired a bikini-buying spree -
4.
Cellophane Trademark previously owned by: Innovia Films Ltd. note, they still own this mark outside the US -
5.
Escalator Trademark previously owned by: Otis Elevator Company-What happened: From Inventors.about.com: "The word escalator lost its proprietary status and its capital "e" in 1950 when the U.S. Patent Office ruled that the word "escalator" had become just a common descriptive term for moving stairways. -
6.
Granola Trademark previously owned by Kellog -
7.
Heroin Trademark previously owned by: Bayer -
8.
Junglegym Trademark previously owned by: Patented by lawyer Sebastian Hinton, sold under the trademarked name Junglegym -
9.
Kerosene Trademark previously owned by: Abraham Gesner owned it and granted the rights to North American Gas Light Company and the Downer Company -
10.
Saran Wrap Trademark previously owned by: Griswold-Nissen Trampoline Tumbling Company -
11.
Tabloids Trademark previously owned by: Burroughs Wellcome Co as a word for compressed medicinepills -
12.
Trampoline Trademark previously owned by: Griswold-Nissen Trampoline Tumbling Company -
13.
Trademark previously owned by: Merriam-Webster should have trademarked it"Webster's Dictionary.What happened: Merriam-Webster only trademarked "Merriam-Webster", so other dictionaries are legally published as "Webster's Dictionary." -
14.
Yo Yo Trademark previously owned by: Duncan Toys Company-What happened: A landmark federal court case in 1965 ruled that yo-yo had become a part of common speech and that Duncan no longer had exclusive rights to it -
15.
Zip Code Trademark previously owned by: U.S. Postal Service-What happened: The word "ZIP code" was originally registered as a servicemark, but its registration expired -
16.
Zipper Trademark previously owned by: B. F. Goodrich Company
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Let's start with "Bikini."Brands that become common nouns or verbs are victims of "genericide," a term coined by marketers to represent trademarks and brands that become used repeatedly in lowercase
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